Orleans 4-Her named first-place NY Farm Bureau scholarship winner

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 May 2026 at 9:18 am

Carter Kuipers

An active 4-H member in Orleans County has been named the first-place winner of a New York Farm Bureau scholarship.

Carter Kuipers of Byron won a $3,000 NY Farm Bureau’s 2026 Agricultural Youth Scholarship.

To qualify for scholarships, applicants must have a student or family membership in Farm Bureau. A panel of judges selects the winners based on their essay submissions and applications, which include community and agricultural engagement. District winners then compete for state scholarships.

Kuipers also was awarded $250 as the District 2 winner. He is a member of Genesee County Farm Bureau and is a senior at Byron-Bergen Senior High School.

Kuipers plans to attend SUNY Cobleskill to study agricultural power machinery with a career goal related to diesel technology. His agricultural experience includes working on his family’s farms, where he cares for animals and maintains equipment.

He has been an active member of FFA, including serving as the 2022-2025 Chapter Secretary, and has received many FFA awards and recognitions. Kuipers has been an active participant in the 4-H Beef and Dairy Club for the past decade. Outside of agricultural activities, he is a sectional champion with the Byron-Bergen/Le Roy swim team and a member of the clay target team, while also finding time to volunteer with his local church.

Kuipers has shown animals at the Orleans County 4-H Fair and won the grand master showman title in 2024, which features the top showmen of nine different animals: horse Western, horse English, dairy goat, meat goat, sheep, swine, llama, dairy cattle and beef cattle.

Kuipers showed pigs and beef cattle at the fair in 2024. He qualified for the grand master showmen competition after winning the beef master showman title.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Carter Kuipers, then 16, of Byron shows a beef animal during the grand master showman competition on July 26, 2024. Kuipers won the competition, one of the most prestigious at the Orleans County 4-H Fair. It features the top livestock showmen from the fair.